Passwords, credit card numbers etc. neither safe for entry into smart‐phones nor into PCs
Will cost web retailers too much already too much fall‐off of customers during check‐out phase of web‐
purchases (where’s my wallet?) – requiring another device makes things much worse (now where’s my phone – in the car?)
Un‐workable within enterprises – e.g. financial institutions are IT groups going to support myriad of employee‐owned devices – where
are the phones – at home, in the car, in a meeting room, in a restaurant etc.? What happens when lost, stolen, damaged, disconnected, given to kids?
are IT groups going to purchase company smart‐phones for employees – have them carry personal and business devices – where are they ‐ are they fully charged etc.
Un‐workable, costly band‐aid, to underlying flawed design
Asimov’s Law privileges humans over smart machines Law 1: robots must not harm humans (so neither should computers)
People care strongly about Asimov’s Law Elon Musk on Artificial Intelligence (AI): “summoning the demon” Stephen Hawking on AI: “will destroy humanity” ordinary users currently take Law into their own hands: will tape over
camera lenses on laptops, will tape foam over microphones – as they assert ultimate privilege of determining what gets recorded or not in their environment – not the smart machine
Will reveal computer designs that adhere to Asimov’s Law‐ smart machines will not be privileged to handle:
passwords, credit card numbers etc.
PC
☠malware
Monitor
Keyboard
Credentials transactions bypass CPU and malware
network
New NIC functionality and connection redirects credentials request message (e.g. http 401 message) around CPU/malware to new display on keyboard
Conventional keyboard connection is blocked until transaction is complete No smart‐machine/malware access to credentials
display
❶
❷
❸
❹NIC
User’sService
pop‐up display overlay
Pop‐up display overlay andexternal lamp are exclusively
under control of NIC
no room for LCD oncompact keyboard
Internalized configuration needs external lamp to indicate security mode operation
Display overlays common on monitors – e.g. brightness/contrast controls Display overlays not accessible to OS – e.g. Print Screen can’t capture For tablets, lamp indicates keyboard touch‐input is disconnected from CPU
Prevents smart‐machine/malware from completing transactions once user signs into bank/broker, require user to confirm risky transactions especially needed for transfers to 3rd party accounts or stock purchases not strictly necessary for modest transactions to well‐established billers
Prevents malware from tampering with purchase and shipping details user alerted to unintended purchases and delivery elsewhere
Memory for frequently used sites/certificates can alert to phishing
[www.bank1.com] Transfer $128.64 to 8192‐4096‐2048 – enter PIN: <f1 ‐ help>
[www.broker1.com] Purchase 400 shares of Telus Preferred – enter PIN: <f1 ‐ help>
[chapters.indigo.ca] $64.16 purchase to 128 Byte St. – enter MasterCard: <f2 ‐more>
????www.bankl.com???? Enter password: <?? f8 – warnings ??>
User’sService
Port 0 dedicated to secure keyboard & display,CPU and O/S forever denied access to port 0
Placing service on separate Port 0, makes it general, aiding many services• akin to DNS Port 53: helper for HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, POP, SIP etc.
NIC functions block malware from ever using UDP/TCP Port 0 Critical transactions involving Port 0 cannot be completed without human
intervention and oversight! Secure user‐agent can have factory certificate from dedicated CA
‐ allows server to confirm PC has secure hardware
networkTransceiverPacket & portdivider/filter
Conventional NIC
KeyboardNIC
ConventionalPC I/F☠
Secure keyboard/display port
NICGreen = tamper‐proof layer
1+
0
DHCP, DNS, Crypt & Cert.*Port 0 is a stand‐in forsome unassigned port
Credentials not actioned within server – not accessible by CPU/malware therefore cannot exploit services on other servers using valid credentials
When server requires user authentication, it sends message to NIC to conduct transaction, and only receives a success/fail response returned (http) authentication headers stripped by NIC – cannot reach CPU could enhance CMU to clear credit‐card transactions away from CPU
Port 0 separation would allow connection to central ID service
☠ ServerNIC
network connection
CMU
Removable Credentials Memory Unit
Opt. port 0 connection to central ID service
User can confirm web site name and/or welcome phrase, certificate Can verify transaction details & confidently submit credentials Provides two‐factor authentication – conveniently within same device via
independent means & “2nd factor” is fixed circuitry – not “smart” Critical transactions just can’t complete without human oversight and
explicit participation – only humans have this elevated privilege‐ CPU‐OS can never complete a transaction – even if it were to know credentials!
f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12
[chapters.indigo.ca] $32.64 purchase to 128 Byte St. – enter MasterCard: <f2 ‐more>
Fully compliant with Asimov’s design law‐ smart machines never privileged to handle password, credit card etc.
Involves a limited amount of funding
Requires only a modest amount of readily available talent
Has an inconsequential barrier to entry
Has only modest technical challenge & few/quick steps
Follows a proven & well‐traveled road to success
IETF Standards ActivitiesIPv4IPv6TCPUDPDNSFTPHTTP 1.0HTTP 1.1SSL 2.0SSL 3.0TLS 1.0TLS 1.1TLS 1.2DTLS 1.2…
Server‐Side AdherenceWindowsUnixApacheOracle‐JavaMicrosoft .Net…
Screen shot of IE Options
Client‐Side AdherenceWindows / IEUnix / FirefoxChrome OS / ChromeApple iOS / Safari…
Networking AdherenceHuawei routersCisco VPNsHP FirewallsIBM SDN/VE…
Zero barrier to IETF participation – Universities very common
Partnering with McGill University working with Advanced Networking Research Lab (ANRL) Carlton Davis is lead researcher – has extensive protocol experience
Drafting a protocol for secure credentials exchange around secure keyboard‐NIC reference configuration work is fully funded and well underway “Port 0” protocol based on DTLS
Looking for additional support to back IETF submission e.g. from financial industry/other
Server: S Client: CConventional HTTP/S connection established at port 80/443
Need credentials
Send Upgradeheader
Inform server
Send version #and port #
Version & portreceived?
Send CRedirect message
Client hasSec‐NIC?
Responsereceived
No Don’tknow
Yes
Continue
with
con
ventional con
nection
No
Yes
(wait)
(wait)
HasSec‐NIC?
No
IgnoreUpgradeheader
Yes
Version & portreceived?
(wait)
No
Send version #and port #
303 Messagereceived?
Send response
Upgrade header
Yes
Version and port #
Version and port #
(wait)NoSend 303 message
Yes
Yes
Server: S Client: CConnection redirected to secure “Port 0” using DTLS
Send credentialsrequest (e.g. 401 msg)
Create DTLStunnel
Initializehandshake
Credentialsreceived?
Send session cookie
Receivedhandshake?
No
Yes
(wait)
(wait)
Receivedrequest?
Yes
Tunnel msgreceived?
(wait)
No
Instantiate tunnel
Send credentials
Send tunnel creation message
Send credentials request
Yes
No(wait)Yes
Send handshake
Credentialreply formed
Cookiereceived?
Send session cookie
Return to
con
ventional con
nection with
new
session cookie
Return to
con
ventional con
nection with
new
session cookie
(wait)
Yes
No
MILS: Multiple Independent Layers of Security NEAT: Non‐by‐passable, Evaluate‐able, Always‐invoked and Tamperproof
Research activity defined with McGill University designing embedded systems to be robust against exploits directly applicable to making NIC‐keyboard tamper‐proof demonstrate resilience/fail‐soft against buffer‐overflow attacks etc. many get‐started ideas within IEEE World‐CIS paper from 2012 also applicable to internet‐of‐things
Full funding has been put in place at McGill University currently in getting‐organized phase
Involves a limited amount of funding
Requires only a modest amount of readily available talent
Has an inconsequential barrier to entry
Has only modest technical challenge
Follows a proven & well‐traveled road to success
Activity well underway: A Cybersecurity Game‐Changer
Kevin O’Connor … successful serial entrepreneur & zillionaire co‐founder of DoubleClick seed investor in HotJobs, MeetUp etc.
… advises that to validate proposition value: ask the right questions and look for “of course”
answers
Is there value to: keep passwords/credentials away from malware keep financial transactions away from malware being able to distinguish network requests
emitted from a PC, as either coming from: malware on a CPU or a human at the keyboard
Of Course!